The founder of fashion giant American Apparel is being sued for $250million for allegedly forcing a teenage employee to be his sex slave soon after her 18th birthday.

An explosive lawsuit accuses Dov Charney, 42, of carrying out a campaign of sexual harassment against Irene Morales after she joined the company as a 17-year-old sales associate.

He allegedly demanded that she send him ‘sexually explicit’ photographs, text messages and emails and she became so ‘nervous and depressed’ at her boss’s advances that she claims she suffered an emotional breakdown.

'Traumatised': Irene Morales, now 20 years old, poses at her attorney Eric Baum's office. She is suing American Apparel owner Dov Charney for $250million over claims he used her as a sex slave

Accused: American Apparel CEO Dov Charney is accused of sexually harassing the teenager while she was an employee but says the allegations are 'entirely baseless'

After she returned to work, Miss Morales says in the lawsuit that she was held captive for several hours and forced to carry out sexual acts on Mr Charney after being invited to his New York apartment after turning 18.

She was ‘emotionally traumatized’ by her ordeal, her lawyer Eric Baum told MailOnline.

‘Her life has drastically changed as a result of the sexual harassment. She is under the care of a doctor and is still suffering from the trauma,’ he added.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

According to court papers filed in Brooklyn, New York, Miss Morales was hired by American Apparel in August 2007.

Soon after she started work she was bombarded with calls from Mr Charney demanding details about her sexual history, even though she was still in high school.

The lawsuit said he made it ‘clear her employment would be forfeited if she did not comply.’

Accused: Charney admits that he runs the offices with a sexually charged
atmosphere and he has had several sexual harassment suits against him

He ‘demanded increasingly explicit
and offensive sexual discussions’ and insisted that Miss Morales sent
him ‘sexually explicit photographs, text messages and email
communications.’

‘He informed her that if she wanted
to remain employed and be advanced by the company she would have to
engage in sexual acts with him as soon as she turned 18 years old,’ the
suit adds.

Although Miss Morales was
hospitalized for several days after becoming ‘shocked and horrified’ by
her boss’s demands, she said he only increased the pressure on her ‘for
sexual acts aimed at his personal gratification’ when she returned to
work.

Miss Morales, of Bedford-Stuyvesant,
said she started as a salesperson and was quickly promoted to be manager
of the company’s store in Chelsea, New York.

On the attack: Court papers filed by Mr Baum on Miss Morales' behalf against American Apparel and Dov Charney

She claims the long hours she was
forced to work even though she was in school ‘left her weakened,
confused, exhausted and unable to fend off’ Mr Charney’s advances.

Just after her 18th birthday in April 2009, Miss Morales said she was invited to Mr Charney’s downtown Manhattan apartment.

According to the court documents, Mr
Charney appeared at the door wearing only his underpants and immediately
dragged her inside.

She claims he forced her to go on her
knees and perform a sex act just inside the front door, ‘then he
dragged her into his bedroom, threw her on to the bed, got on top of her
and forced her to perform’ another sex act – ‘nearly suffocating her in
the process.’

‘She was, to all intents and
purposes, held prisoner in his apartment for several hours and forced to
perform additional sex acts upon defendant Charney.’ These allegedly
included an attempt to sodomise the teenager.

The lawsuit claims the abuse
continued for the next eight months. Mr Charney allegedly gave Miss
Morales a ‘large dildo sex toy’ and was ‘induced’ to visit her
employer’s Los Angeles home in the summer of last year where ‘she was
subjected to extreme psychological abuse and torment,’ said the
documents.

Mr Baum, of the New York firm Simon,
Eisenberg and Baum, said: ’She started there when she was 17 and she was
hoping to advance with opportunities in the fashion industry. But she
has not found comparable employment since that date.’

Mr Baum said she did not deliberately
go to authorities because of trauma and shame, but she may press
criminal charges in the future.

He told MailOnline: ’It is not
uncommon for women who are the victims of sexual harassment, sexual
assaults and rape to wait many years before they come forward.

'They are often scared of what people
in society will think of them. They are embarrassed about what has
occurred. It is only recently that Miss Morales decided to come
forward,’ he added.

Miss Morales has put her signature on the court papers, swearing that what she claims happened is true

Miss Morales told the New York Daily
News: ‘'I believed I would work in a professional environment where
promotions and work advancement would be based on merit and hard work.

'I was extremely devastated to find out that was not the case.'

The suit also accuses the company’s
eight other board members of failing to protect Miss Morales from an
executive they should have known was a ‘sexual predator.’

Peter Schey, an American Apparel
lawyer, said that Morales 'resigned with a letter of gratitude regarding
her positive experience at the company'.

He added that she signed an agreement not to sue but to settle any claims through a binding arbitrator.

The case, Mr Schey said, 'will be resolved, we believe, fully in favour of the company.'

In a statement, American Apparel called the allegations ‘entirely baseless.’

‘CEO Dov Charney’s celebrity status in the fashion industry is being publicly exploited,’ it added.

The retailer has come under fire for its racy advertising campaigns featuring young girls in various stages of undress.

Mr Charney has been accused of sexual
harassment in the past but it has never been proven in court, though he
has admitted to having a sexually-charged atmosphere in the offices.

Canada-born Charney has been known to
carry out board meetings in his underwear and was said to frequently
refer to the women in the office as 'sluts' and 'whores'.

By way of defence he said: 'Some people love sluts.'

However, he has been praised for some
of his other employment practices, namely that he insists on every
American Apparel garment being manufactured in his Los Angeles factory.

There the staff are paid twice the
minimum wage and enjoy untold benefits, including full family medical
insurance and shares in the company.